MARCELINE — ‘Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus,’ and he is us.
Yesterday morning, as he announced “we will continue proudly selling Chevrolets well into the future,” Robert Cupp’s words were brimming with the gratitude of a kid on Christmas morning.
“I am grateful to GM for taking a second look and retaining Cupp Chevrolet,” said the Marceline Chevrolet dealer. “But I am most grateful that I am a part of a community that would rally to support one of its own.”
In the end, the Cupp family knew that the benefactors who performed the Miracle on Main Street USA were not distant corporate gurus with some grand design, but the 3,000 local letter writers who dared to question that plan. Like the Miracle On 34th Street, the Miracle On Main Street USA may have been mistaken elsewhere for some promotional gimmick, but to the “Disney Dealership” and its many friends, it was, quite simply, an act of kindness.
“Only in small-town America is this outpouring of compassion possible,” observed Robert Cupp during a press conference at Cupp Chevrolet. “My family and I were overwhelmed...and apparently so was GM.”
Among the many local supporters the Cupp family had to thank, none was more generous than Don Walsworth. Forsaking his usual behind-the-scenes preference, the Walsworth Publishing Co. CEO had been a featured speaker during the recent effort to rally support for one of only two dealers in new vehicles in a five-county area.
Walsworth and his staff had pulled off a little miracle of their own; they had, in just one week, compiled and printed a hard-bound book promoting Cupp Chevrolet and its valiant effort to remain in business.
Speaking to a gathering at the Cupp dealership yesterday morning, Walsworth asserted, “Working together really works!”
"– See today's Linn County Leader for full story."
